Shrewsbury picked up a deserved point at in-form Crawley in an end to end encounter which saw Aaron Wildig grab his second goal of the season, and keeper Chris Weale pull off a fine first half penalty save.

The blank score-line at half time was largely due to the brilliance of the Town stopper, who denied striker Billy Clarke from 12 yards after Darren Jones was adjudged to have wrestled Nicky Adams to the floor three minutes before the break.

Clarke struck the ball well, but Weale was equal to it, with a flying save to his left.

The afternoon got even better 90 seconds into the restart when the visitors hit the opening goal. Curtis Main held the ball up well, Ryan Woods delivered in a cross from the right, and Wildig powered in a brilliant volley from the edge of the box that bulleted hard and low into the bottom corner. It was right in front of the travelling band of 253 Shrewsbury supporters, and added to the midfielder's consolation goal against Bolton in the League Cup at the Greenhous Meadow in August.

But on 63 minutes, Crawley pressure paid off and the home side found an equaliser. Adams' menacing cross was flicked on by former Town loanee Jamie Proctor and Andy Drury headed in to give Weale no chance.

Both sides could have nicked it after that in a thrilling second half, in a match that ebbed and flowed throughout.

In fact, Shrewsbury came close to firing in the opener after just seven minutes. Jon Taylor let fly with a stinging 25 yard drive, parried by keeper Paul Jones. The rebound dropped to Tom Bradshaw but the ball came at the striker quickly, he couldn't connect cleanly with his shot from 6 yards and his scuffed effort went wide of the post. Minutes later, the presence of Connor Goldson proved a problem for the hosts, but in a congested penalty area, the young defender powered his header well wide from a Taylor corner.

Crawley's first real opportunity came after 15 minutes. Goldson got back to block a goal-bound effort from Billy Clarke after tricky work by the lively Adams on the left. Weale was then called into action soon after but it was an easy save for the keeper, with a bending 20 yard shot from Andy Drury straight at him.

Adams then wasted a glorious chance to put the Red Devils in front. Proctor's intelligent lay-off sent the midfielder clear on the right, but while his shot was struck powerfully, he shot a yard ward of Weale's post.

At the other end, Luke Summerfield nearly opened his account for the season, with a fine 25 yard low drive that flashed narrowly wide. Parry then also warmed the gloves of Jones with a neat shot, capping a flowing move involving Main and Summerfield, and while the Crawley stopper could only parry the Welshman's shot, no player in blue and amber could follow up for the rebound.

After Weale's dramatic penalty save, Bradshaw may have given Shrewsbury the lead in the dying moments of the half, but after a dazzling run into the area, his shot was pushed clear by Jones.

After Town's perfect start in the second period, Woods and Wildig then nearly proved to be the dream combination again eight minutes later, with the defender's cross just evading the Welshman who was waiting to pounce inside the six yard box for his and Shrewsbury's second.

The home side also looked dangerous going forward though, and once again acrobatics from Weale kept Crawley at bay - with the Town keeper producing a fine fingertip save from a Clarke strike that looked destined for the top corner. Drury then blasted wastefully over as the match became more stretched, skipping past Woods, but he failed to keep his shot down from 20 yards, and it sailed well over the bar.

The Crawley equaliser came as no surprise, as Town sat back, soaking up large amounts of pressure. But even after Drury's goal, Turner's team had chances.

The best of them fell to on loan Middlesborough striker Main, a real threat throughout, but he saw a guilt-edged chance go begging. Paul Parry sent in a cross from the right, but Main, in a decent amount of space, couldn't direct his header on target and it sailed narrowly over. He came close again two minutes later when a vicious shot from distance whistled wide.

Town fans also appealed for a penalty eight minutes from time when Bradshaw went down in the box, but referee Ward waved away protests, before Adams blazed over when well placed after being slipped through by sub Emile Sinclair.

Former Town loanee James Hurst was booked in the dying stages for a late challenge on stand-in skipper Joe Jacobson - and was subbed by his manager Ritchie Barker soon after.

Crawley finished the game the stronger of the two sides but Town defended well to preserve their point, and extend their unbeaten league run to four matches.